Page 90 of Fallen from the Stars

“Anything can go wrong, and if I am not there to—”

“This is what I do. What I’ve been trained to do.” She smiled and ran her fingers over his nearest tentacle. “Believe in my abilities.”

The tentacle flexed beneath her fingers as the tip curled back to brush over her knuckles.

“Call for me ifanythinggoes wrong.” He twisted away from her, opened the container, and removed her toolbox.

Once she’d gone down the last few rungs and had her feet on the floor of the lower level, Vasil leaned forward and passed her toolbox to her.

He met her gaze and held it. “Be safe, Theodora.”

Theo blew him a kiss and grinned. “I will. Besides, you promised me sex later.”

Vasil grinned in response; his pointed teeth sent a thrill along her spine.

Stepping away from the ladder, Theo studied her surroundings. The tunnel was far more cramped than the corridors above, and many of the pipes, conduits, and ducts were fully exposed along the walls and ceiling. Even more were visible through the metal grating of the floor. The air was also noticeably warmer, pulsing with the familiar hum of machinery.

Kane’s path led her a few meters toward the front of the sub and into a narrow passage; she had to swing her toolbox behind her and twist her shoulders sideways to fit through. It opened on a room — not that she could truly call it a room, it was more just aspace— filled with various machines and electronic components, including an air filtration and reclamation system similar to the unit in the Facility. The steady machine hum was more pronounced here, strong enough that she could almost feel it on her skin.

Her retinal display pinpointed the valve. Theo stopped in front of its location and set her toolbox on the floor nearby. She studied the plans, noting what she’d have to remove to reach the part, and crouched to open the toolbox.

“How long will the air last once I take this out?” she asked.

“Given the size of the vessel and the number of people currently aboard, I would estimate several hours of clean air,” Kane replied.

She dug through the tools to find what she needed. “Plenty of time. Could you tell Larkin and Dracchus to start removing the bodies now so we’re out of here as quickly as possible after I’m done? Guide her to the locations as efficiently as possible.”

“Yes. They will likely require some assistance in clearing the remains. They are rather…scattered.”

Theo plucked out her all-wrench, rose, and set to the bolts securing the unit’s cover plate. They gave a bit of resistance, but she hadn’t met a bolt yet that could hold out against Malcolm’s sturdy old all-wrench. It used a small energy field to clamp down on whatever needed to be fastened or unfastened, molding perfectly to every groove and crack.

Theo smiled to herself as she removed the final bolt; Malcolm used to say the all-wrench latched on to every damned atom.

Shifting her hold on the tool, she grasped the cover plate as it came loose and lowered it to the floor, leaning it against the base of the unit. The sound of whirring machinery was immediately louder. Kane provided readouts on every part within her field of view, but she paid no further attention to the information; if nothing else, she’d always had a firm grasp of what the parts of most machines did, and her few glimpses of the plans had been more than enough to decipher these.

“All right, Kane. Shut her down.”

The filtration system stalled abruptly. It released a prolonged hiss — layered over a deep groan — and went silent, leaving only that old hum to fill the void.

She reached into the opening, flicked the valve’s manual release switch, and watched the fill-level indicator for the tank above it. Once it showed empty, she crouched to retrieve another tool and set about removing the valve. Even with her advanced tools and their supposedly atomic-level grip and amped-up torque, she had to throw all her strength against both connectors for several seconds to get them to loosen. She froze the instant they moved, her heart thumping and breath suddenly ragged; the enormity of what she was doing crashed down upon her in that instant.

This wasn’t about swapping a part, it was about saving the place Vasil’s people called home. Too much pressure either while removing or installing the part could cause enough damage to prevent a good seal, which would hasten the deterioration of the system and render all this effort pointless.

This is what I do. Even on that ship, my job was keeping people safe — half the parts I touched could’ve affected critical systems. This is no different.

“Good news is I don’t think that would’ve ever come apart on its own,” she muttered.

“Itisa vital component if you want living humans aboard,” Kane said. “The IDC standards have always been high for such systems, even hundreds of years ago.”

“Livinghumans? Don’t you think that’s a bit insensitive to our hosts, Kane?”

Theo gently loosened the connectors the rest of the way. Once they were unfastened, the individual pieces shifted freely. She put her tools away and pushed the connectors down, creating enough leeway to lift the valve out of place. The sensor array built into its side, though no larger than her thumb, was the difference between life and death for the people living in the Facility.

Bending down, she opened the small case built into her toolbox’s top tray and laid the valve on the foam padding within. Once the case was closed, she picked up the all-wrench, turned back to the air unit, and replaced the cover plate — she knew there was no reason for it, but it was a habit she’d likely never shake.

“There is one more thing,” Kane said.

Theo furrowed her brow as she closed her toolbox. “What? I thought this was all we needed.”

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